Earlier in the 2011 offseason, Beane dealt away phenom Gio Gonzalez and minor leaguer Rob Gilliam for a bounty of prospects including Brad Peacock, AJ Cole, and Derek Norris. The final piece of the haul was arguably the most major league ready, yet featured the least amount of projectability. The prospect, Tommy Milone, not only exceled in his spring audition but barreled through 2012 for 31 appearances without injury or demotion. Not many could’ve foreseen that. And the soft tosser brought an elite changeup to the East Bay which immediately received comparisons to Jason Vargas’ for its velocity and distribution. As promised, the rookie seldom walked the opposition and tied the Oakland record for starts with one or fewer walks at 14 straight. With the 2013 season on the horizon and a full slate against Houston (LOLZ) upcoming, the lefty looks poised to build upon his solid campaign in 2012.
Milone’s bread and butter was his changeup, thrown at a ridiculous 25.5%, a mark that ranked 8th in MLB behind fellow soft tossers Vargas, Capuano, and Buehrle. His reliance on his offspeed offerings (47.6% FB) proved to bode outstanding results for Tomaso (Evidently unaffected from inheriting Fuentes’ #57…). He posted a 3.93 FIP for the season in 190 frames and finished with a 1.71 BB/9, tying follow rookie Wade Miley for 6th best in baseball. He clocked in at a 2.7 fWAR for the season, sliding in behind Jarrod Parker for 2nd best on the club. And it all began during his quirky debut against Kansas City…
In Oakland’s first bout against a non-Seattle opponent, Milone took to the mound and twirled a Glavine-esque performance by going eight innings, striking out zero and allowing no runs. He became the first since Glavine to have such an outing an MLB. But, the lefty proved he could have strikeout potential with two double digit punchout starts against New York (Becoming the first Athletic since Eddie Plank to strikeout 10+ Yankees in a single start) and in Seattle. Both times he walked none. Despite his pedestrian 6.49 K/9, Tommy earned a 8.7% SwStr% which could signal an increase in K’s next season (Again, especially with Houston coming to town).
The one factor that nipped at Milone throughout his campaign were not just his HR tendencies, clocking in at a 1.14 HR/9 and a 10.2% HR/FB (Decent for a FB pitcher though), but his ridiculously lopsided Home/Road splits. It was no secret that he benefitted from the spacious Coliseum with a 5.6% HR/FB compared to an atrocious 15.4% on the road. The lefty had a higher K/9 away from the Coliseum, but that can be traced to the schism between the home/road BABIPs, something that can’t quite be explained as easily as park factors. With a .273 BABIP in Oakland compared to a ridiculous .350 on the road, more damage was caused when Tommy left the Coliseum despite similar home/road percentages (LD%: Home- 23.8%/Road- 25.6%, GB%: Home- 41.0%/Road-35.0%, FB%: Home: 35.2%/Road-39.4%). This phenomenon can’ keep up forever though, so here’s hoping Tomaso’s luck evens out in 2013.
Tommy promises to slot up behind Anderson, Jarrod, and McCarthy in the upcoming rotation as long as he can remain healthy through the spring. With 190 major league innings under his belt, Milone is sure to improve upon a season where he shattered expectations and became the dependable name in Oakland’s starting five. With a pinch of consistency, Tommy could evolve into a soft tossing phenom to end all soft tossing phenoms.
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